Jerusalem―one of the most contested sites in the world. Reconstructing Jerusalem takes readers back to a pivotal moment in its history when it lay ruined and abandoned and the glory of its ancient kings, David and Solomon, had faded. Why did this city not share the same fate as so many other conquered cities, destroyed and forever abandoned, never to be rebuilt? Why did Jerusalem, disgraced and humiliated, not suffer the fate of Babylon, Nineveh, or Persepolis? Reconstructing Jerusalem explores the interrelationship of the physical and intellectual processes leading to Jerusalem’s restoration after its destruction in 587 B.C.E., stressing its symbolic importance and the power of the prophetic perspective in the preservation of the Judean nation and the critical transition from Yahwism to Judaism. Through texts and artifacts, including a unique, comprehensive investigation of the archaeological evidence, a startling story emerges: the visions of a small group of prophets not only inspired the rebuilding of a desolate city but also of a dispersed people. Archaeological, historical, and literary analysis converge to reveal the powerful elements of the story, a story of dispersion and destruction but also of re-creation and revitalization, a story about how compelling visions can change the fate of a people and the course of human history, a story of a community reborn to a barren city.
“Ristau’s generative discussion suggests that the reception of these texts and their effect on the later growth of the city could be a constructive direction for further research. Works of prophetic literature emerge from their historical contexts but nonetheless do not remain yoked to them. As Ristau’s stimulating research indicates, prophetic literature has the capacity to transform not just the world as it is but also the imagined limits of what it can be.”
—Sean Burt, Review of Biblical Literature
“While the restoration of the temple is often viewed as the return of divine favor to God’s people, Ristau successfully demonstrates that for the post-exilic prophets . . . this is only true inasmuch as it reestablishes Jerusalem as the city of Yahweh’s habitation and the locus of the Davidic house. Due to its extensive use of untransliterated and untranslated Hebrew—and the occasional untranslated German—this important volume would be most useful for graduate students or scholars interested in Persian Yehud.”
—Kyle R. Greenwood, Religious Studies Review
